People Empowering People (PEP)

PEP participants collected food to support the Weekend Food Backpack Program through Gifts of Love.

People Empowering People (PEP) is an innovative program that builds on the strengths, life experiences, and capacities of parents to improve communication, problem solving, and parenting skills; develop leadership skills; and become more active in the community. It is based on empowering individuals to gain control over their lives so they may reach their own goals. 

PEP is a parent leadership program that uses a curriculum developed by the UConn Cooperative Extension System. It encourages consistent parenting behavior by increasing a parent's knowledge of child development. Over a 10-week period, PEP participants discuss parenting, values, communication skills, conduct a review of the town resources, and select a community service project with the guidance of a trained facilitator.

PEP helps parents and caregivers realize their strengths as parents and how they can be instrumental in furthering change for themselves, their families, and their communities. Today, more than 100 West Hartford parents are alumni of PEP.


Parent Leadership Training Institute (PLTI)

Irene Galo (c.) of Liberty Bank West Hartford Branch presents a check for PLTI to Martha Rennie (l.) and Margaret Hann (r.).

The Parent Leadership Training Institute (PLTI) is a 20-week program that combines advocacy, leadership, and citizenship skills into a curriculum to promote the best interests of children. It also works with local and statewide programs and initiatives to help parents take an active role in system reforms.

The program is designed by the American Leadership Forum, Leadership Greater Hartford, and the Connecticut Commission on Children. PLTI has been held in towns throughout Connecticut since 1993 and continues to show great success in training parents as leaders.

There are three components of the Parent Leadership Training Institute:

An initial retreat was conducted in January 2012 and a second class is starting in January 2013.

Twenty weekly educational sessions that focus on knowledge about the change process, skill building, and tools of civic engagement conducted from January through May 2013

A community project to be completed by the end of June 2013

The goals of PLTI are:

Helping parents become the leaders they would like to be for their children and families

Increasing positive parent-child interactions and improve child success through parent involvement

Training parents to be active participants in the democratic process and take part in policy development or when a problem arises in their community

If you are interested in learning more about either PEP or PLTI, please contact Deborah Zipkin or call 860.233.4701.